Schmitz, along with his fellow investment officers at Treasury, are some of the best-paid public employees in the state. His base salary is more than $265,000 a year, and he earned well over $300,000 in 2010 with incentive pay based on the performance of the pension fund's investments.

He has managed the division during volatile times on Wall Street, and one where the state has gradually decreased its reliance on publicly traded stocks and upped its allocations to alternative assets such as private equity and real estate partnerships. As of July 31, the regular account of the pension fund had generated an average annual return of 6.66 percent during the last 10 years. Oregon's fund has typically been a top-tier performer among large public funds – in the top 3 percent of similar sized funds during the last seven years, according to Treasury.

Schmitz was one of three Investment officers reprimanded recently by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission for violations of state ethics law involving travel expenses and reimbursements while the officers were overseeing Wall Street money managers.

The commissioners didn't formally charge the officers for the violations because of mitigating circumstances -- specifically that the employees were following flawed Treasury policies and incorrect advice from the state Attorney General's office.

The ethics investigation followed reporting by The Oregonian that found the division's investment officers often traveled in luxury, paid for by investment firms they are charged with overseeing. The officers also routinely sought per diem reimbursements covering meals provided for free.

Schmitz was the only investment officer made available by Treasury for comment on those stories. He maintained that apart from a few clerical errors, all the travel was strictly by the book and critically important for due diligence. The notion that investment officers could be swayed by free meals or a room in a swanky hotel, he said at the time, was absurd.

Schmitz was not available for comment Friday. In a news release, Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler thanked Schmitz for his service and said the agency "will thoughtfully plan a transition."

Before joining Oregon PERS, Schmitz served as chief investment officer for the Illinois State Board of Investment. From 1988 to 1998, he served as director of investments for the BlueCross and BlueShield Association.